CALIF. (KERO) — According to Auto Club’s Weekend Gas Watch, gas prices remained steady in January but it’s still the highest Southern California has seen at the beginning of a year.

The average gasoline price in California is $4.66 but the average national price is $3.30 which is up a penny from a week ago.

The average price in Los Angeles-Long Beach area is $4.68 per gallon which is unchanged since last week but $1.36 higher than last year. The same goes for Riverside.

In Bakersfield specifically, the $4.61 average is $1.45 higher than a year ago but unchanged since last week.

“Southern California drivers started the new year paying the highest average price ever in the region for January; the statewide average today being 30 percent higher than a year ago when it was $3.26 per gallon.” said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring.

“Oil prices are climbing again due civil unrest in a couple of oil producing countries, but that impact seems to be tempered by concerns about what the Omicron variant of Covid may do to gasoline demand.”

The Weekend Gas Watch monitors the average price of gasoline. As of 9 a.m. on Jan. 6, averages are: